Working with Scripps student Beatriz Maldonado, Professor Wernimont recently undertook an experiment to transform a poem into an algorithm and then into a 3D object. Conceived as an experiment in the material expression of an analysis or reading, the project failed and succeeded in surprising ways, including illuminating just how quickly the relatively small “data” of a single poem can become a computational challenge too large for even a high-end personal computer. Professor Wernimont discusses the current interest in big and small data within digital literary studies, as well as the conception and goals of the project, its roadblocks and successes, and Maldonado’s low-tech strategy for overcoming the complexity of our data.
